Manila: A broadcast journalist in southern Philippines was killed, the first to die in 2016 and the 85th since 1992, sources said.
Gunmen shot to death Elvis Banggoy Ordaniza, 49, reporter of Pagadian-based Power 99FM, while he was cooking in his home in Bagong Silang, Poblacion village, Pitogo town, Zamboanga del Sur province on Tuesday night, regional director Police Chief Superintendent Miguel Antonio said in a report.
Two gunmen with .45-calibre pistols shot Ordaniza at close range when the latter went out of his kitchen to gather fire wood in his backyard, said the report.
The killers escaped before policemen arrived and brought Ordaniza to Pitogo Rural Health Centre for treatment, police said.
Since 1992, 86 reporters were killed in the Philippines, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), adding that since President Benigno Aquino took office in 2010, 27 journalists have been killed, seven of whom perished in 2015.
In late 2009, 32 journalists (together with 25 civilians) were killed ahead of the 2010 elections, in Maguindanao, southern Philippines.
Because of a slow judicial system in the country, 90 per cent of the murder cases were not yet convicted, CPJ said.
Suspects in six cases were arrested so far, said the Human Rights Watch report.
